Heart Health
How a healthy gut helps your heart
Both fiber-rich and fermented foods encourage a healthy gut microbiome, which may benefit cardiovascular health.
- Reviewed by Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
Your gut microbiome — a collection of trillions of microorganisms inhabiting your intestinal tract — has wide-ranging effects on your health. Your unique mix of bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses reflects your genes, your age, the medications you take — but most of all, what you eat.
Over the past two decades, numerous studies have explored how gut microbes and their breakdown products (metabolites) affect factors linked with heart disease. For the most part, the findings support the same basic advice health experts recommend: Follow a mostly plant-based eating pattern, and cut back on highly processed foods. Doing so can help promote a more diverse, healthier microbiome.
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About the Author
Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter
About the Reviewer
Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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